Martucci Quoted on Lyft Settlement and its Impact in Corporate Counsel

February 10, 2016

Shook, Hardy & Bacon Partner Bill Martucci discusses Lyft’s recent proposed settlement agreement to end its “employee vs. independent contractor” class action lawsuit and how the decision could affect similar pending litigation in a January 28 Corporate Counsel article titled, “Will Lyft’s Settlement With Drivers Be a Model for Uber?”

Companies leading the growth of the sharing economy – using technology to connect consumers with service-providers – typically classify their workers as independent contractors. With no benefits, these workers receive no sick time, no health insurance and no 401(k) contributions, among other things. In the class action lawsuit against Lyft, drivers complained about being dropped from the technology platform with no notice and no explanation.

“It’s creative, it could well be a model for the future, and it shows there can be compromise in this space of independent contractor vs. employee,” Martucci says.

Martucci also explains that it remains to be seen how the settlement will influence other pending misclassification class action suits, including those against Uber Technologies Inc. over whether its workers should really be independent contractors.